Buoyant attachment for standard tanks



Nbv. 9, 1948. MccUTCHEN 2,453,149

BUOYANT ATTACHMENT FOR STANDARD TANKS Filed April 6, 1945 INVENTOR. ALAN J. MC CUTCHEN 6. am waafilw ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 9, 1948 I A BUOYANT ATTACHMENTFOR STANDARD TANKS Alan McCutchen, Washington, D. C.

- Application April 6, 1e45,'seria1 No. 587,001

'1he invention described herein, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates generally to amphibious tanksand more particularly to buoyant attachments for a standard tank.

All devices of this character made according to the teachings 'of the prior art, and with which I am familiar, cur-tail desirable battlefield characteristics by decreasing the armor of the vehicle for the sake of buoyancy, lowering the gun turrets to prevent overturning, introducing extra machinery, or by using atrack for propulsion in water which is not adapted to long usage on land.

Detachable buoyancy tanks made of metal also present difliculty because of their weight, bulkiness, etc; These constitute extra items to be hauled, attached and detached, and even though sectionalized, they will be necessarily of considerable size, cumbersome to handle, and will serve only the single purpose of ferrying tanks. In addition, a :tow boat, :a large outboard motor or special motor power for water must be provided.

It is, accordingly, an object of my invention to overcome the above and other defects in means for floating a tank and it is more particularly an object of my invention to provide means for floating a tank which is simple in construction, economical in cost, eflicient in operation, and light in weight.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for floating a tank which provides a propeller in the rear of the vehicle operated by a take-off from the .tank engine.

Another object of my invention is to provide armor protection for the buoyant members used to float the tank as well as the tank itself.

Other objects of my invention will become evident from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

, Figure 1 is a rear elevational view of my novel amphibious tank;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevation View partly broken away on line 22 of Figure 1 of a buoyant member disposed on one side of the tank in inflated condition, and

Figure 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of Figura2;

Referring now to the drawings, Figures 1, 2 and 3 show a tank I having dis-posed along the side thereof. an inflatable member 2 of rubber .or the like, protected by a hinged armor plate 3 and a side plate 4, The member 2 is attached to the 2 Claims. (Cl. 1151) (Granted underthe act of March 3, 1883, as amended-April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) plates 3pand 4 by a suitable cement although any other suitable means may be utilized.

The hinge 5 may be of any suitable design.

' Rubber bands 6 are disposed internally of the inflatable member 2 to draw them inwardly when they are deflated. Conventional air valves 8 are utilized to connect an air hose from a c p so in the tank. A propeller 1 is disposed on the rear end of the vehicle for propulsion thereof when in the water and it may be driven by any suitable take-off device from the engine of the tank (not shown).'

In operation, over land the armor plates 3 are disposed in a downwardly hanging position as shown on one side of the tank in Figure 1. In this position the armor plates 3 protect the inflatable members 2 from light machine gun fire. The armor plates 3 also protect the inflatable members from shrapnel and other light bursting charges. When the tank I is to be floated, a conventional compressor therein is operated (not shown) and the inflatable members 2 are inflated as shown in Figure 2. The take-off device starts the rotation of the propeller 1 wherein the tank I is floated in the water and propelled therethrough by the propeller I.

A take-off device for the operation of the propeller 1, a compressor for providing air for inflation of the inflatable members 2, and an engine for operating the tank I are not shown in that they all are conventional and well known and any suitable device may be used to carry out the purposes of this invention.

It will be evident from the foregoing that I have provided a tank which provides floating members for floating the tank in water, and which carries these floating members in a position for immediate operation at all times. A propeller is also provided to propel the tank in the Water. The hinged armor plates 4, being made of armor plate, also, give good protection to the tracks and suspension system of the vehicle which are the most vulnerable parts of the tank. i

Various changes may be made in these specific embodiments of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof, or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An amphibious tank vehicle comprising, in combination, an armored tank with operating power means therefor, :a vertical side plate fixed on each side of said tank, a corresponding exterior protective armor plate hinged at the top thereof to the top of each said side plate, an inflatable member disposed between each said side plate and combination, an armored tank with operating,

.power means therefor, a propeller at the rear of said tank and operable by said power means, a vertical side plate fixed on each side of said tank, a corresponding exterior protective armor plate hinged at the top thereof to the top of each said 7 side plate, an inflatable member disposed between each said side plate and the respective'said exterior protective plate, said inflatable'mem-ber'be ing attached to said plates, an elastic member disposed within said inflatable member to draw the 4 latter inwardly when deflated, an air compressor in said tank, and means connecting said compressor in fluid communication through said side plate with the interior of said inflatable member for inflating the latter, said exterior protective plate being-automaticallymovable hingedly toward a substantially horizontal positionby inflating said inflatable member.

ALAN J. MCCUTCHEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the tile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 615,039 Norton Nov. 29, 1898 15180913 Gook et a1 Apr. 18, 1916 1,289,808 "Kennedy et 'al Dec. 31, 1918 1,312,355 Reid Aug. 5, 1919 1,391,421 Sok-olowski et a1. Septs20, 1921 

